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Letters of the Twins
The Letters of the Twins, reproduced below, are formed by a collection of messages exchanged by Rasha and Varsha during their time of exile. They were found in a chest at the Tree Maze, in year 430, and offer many insights on the internal workings of the Black Hand and the rise of Marthonis. 1. Dear Brother, I know I should not be writing this, but being far away from you is beyond unbearable. All those years spent together and suddenly she comes and we should keep away from each other? Who is she to decide such a thing? I will come to your hideout, and leave this parchment under a rock at the entrance. I know you will find it. I will come back, and this time you two had better let me in. I will not stand this much longer. We used to rule the world. I cannot sleep without you in my sight. I fear something bad will happen. I will not let her stand between us. Remember Elefin. V. 2. Sister, Your letter pained me as much as it was a relief to hear from you. Trust me when I say not a moment passes without me worrying about you, but Tirana is right. It is too soon for us to be together. Everyone is still looking for us. We did not only lose Marali, we lost our power. Our rings, our devices, our Etherite... All is gone. Worry not my one and only, Tirana is but a tool to me. She is talking about a magic cloak that would allow us all to walk freely, under the appearance of another person. Think about it! We could walk in Mirith, in Andris, everywhere, and strike when the moment is at hand! All I am asking from you is a bit of patience. Soon we will recover our strength, and when Tirana dies, it will be just you and me. On the top of the world, again. Your loving brother, R. 3. Dear Brother, This week spent as a Black Hand recruit was very fruitful. The magic cloak is working a treat! During the escape from Marali, a wizard managed to steal an ancient book. He studied it and became an expert Necromancer. His name is Marthonis. He naturally arose as the new leader of the Black Hand. His toying with the dead scared the Alliance away, who retreated underground. The Black Hand lost a lot of power, but with the help of this wizard, I believe it will grow again. When the time comes, I will assassinate him and take the leadership again. How are things going on your side? Miss you, V. 4. Sister, Reading your letters brings more joy to my heart than anything else. This is great news about the Black Hand, and I am sure these muppets can still be of some more use for us. I spent some time in Mirith and learned that Beleth never came back. He is apparently roaming the lands looking for Tirana. What a fool. If he only knew that she was in his very city... That makes me chuckle every time I think about it. I do wonder who is the greatest fool though, him, or his target. Tirana already sees herself as the future Queen of Mirith, terrorizing her citizens, she told me the other day that we would be her « very own Royal Guards ». Her latest plan involved capturing Beleth to have him replenish our Etherite supplies faster. I am not sure what to think of it. In a few days we will be together again, how eager I am! Love, R. 5. Dear Brother, Time went too fast! I am back in the Black Hand camp now. I don't think anyone noticed my absence. Marthonis is busy. He writes a lot, I wonder what is up with him. I find him muttering about the dead and things he call Bone Lords. Pretty creepy if you ask me. But people don't seem to mind. They are happy a new leader arose, and already talking about the day they will march on Mirith's ashes. They seem to talk about Beleth a lot. The other day apparently, he found one of our camps, single handedly destroyed it and killed everyone. He was shouting about Tirana, about how he would find her and avenge his daughter. About how he would find her two dogs, and make them bite the dust. I like Tirana's idea. We should capture him. Torture him. I want him to be the dog. My dog. I wish I could write more, but times are pretty busy. Please answer fast, V. 6. Sis, Do you remember when we were younger, how many times people mocked us for always being together? The names they would call us? And what would I tell you all this time? Never let someone's talking get to you. If Beleth wants to call us Tirana's dogs, then let him. Sooner or later, his throat will meet your blade. Things are pretty dull in Mirith. I haven't seen someone important in ages. Tirana is considering visiting other cities. She is still drawing masterplans to take the throne and become the new leader of Oberin. Too many times have I heard « I will succeed where Elefin failed »... She is boring. I can't wait for the day we get rid of her. At the rate at which she manages to extract Etherite, it looks like we're in for some more time. I hope you're not too rough with the brigands! I know you, I'm sure you are dying to take ten of them at once, and beat them to a pulp. Keep a close eye on this Marthonis too, we don't want him to become too powerful. It is still too soon to act, but make sure to report anything unusual. Miss you, R. 7. Dear Brother, Marthonis is worrying me. He keeps on talking about Bone Lords. I am not sure what this is supposed to be, but it seems to me like his power is dangerously rising. Yesterday he was walking amongst us and stopped right in front of me. He eyed me up and down, as if he could sense I was not the one I appeared to be. Is Tirana positive no one can see the real form under our cloak? I am worried Brother, please answer fast. V. 8. Sister, I hid a ring under the rock near the Troll Cave. Take it. Kill him. R. 9. My Brother, I am sorry... I have failed. I found the ring and took it, came back to the camp, and quietly waited for the night to fall. Marthonis would literally stare at me each time he had the chance. Luckily for me his writing was taking most of his time, or I am sure he would have discovered my disguise even before I could write you the first letter. When the night fell I snuck out of the camp, killed the guards at the entrance of his shelter, and entered. My plan was to kill him, set it on fire, and run away. But he was not in here. Instead, I found a single piece of paper. « My Lady Varsha, I apologise, I have business in the cemetery. You will have to assassinate me there. » I panicked. He knew who I was. He probably knew everything all along. I didn't know what to do, he had to die. I went to the nearest cemetery, and there he was, chanting. He looked at me... I'll never forget the look on his face... « Your timing is perfect. » he said... The ground began shaking... And... A creature arose from it... A creature made of flesh and bone... « Behold the first of my Bone Lords! » he cried, « Kill her! » The Bone Lord walked towards me, a sword made of bone ready to slice my skin. I was not armored, I was sneaking... The only thing I had is the ring, and a dagger. I ran... Marthonis tried to send a lightning bolt at me, but the ring you gave me absorbed it. I ran as fast as I could... Somehow, I managed to escape. I don't know what will happen of me now. Maybe he is looking for me. Maybe I will be dead when this letter reaches you... If only we still had all our magic items like before! His body would be lying dead before me. I am hiding in a little cave in the volcano. Find a little crack near its main entrance, and you will find me. I will be waiting here. I need your help. V. 10. Dear Brother, I have settled in Andris now. I somehow feel safe in this city. I will be quiet for a while now, the shadow of Marthonis is still haunting me. I am very tired now, I will rest a bit. Please answer fast, V. 11. Sister, After all that happened, Tirana and I decided we can't allow ourselves to lose any more time. Her original plan to capture Beleth and teach him to extract Etherite seems more appealing now. We will leave Mirith shortly. I will keep you informed. Stay in Andris and don't make too much noise. I am sorry you have to go through all of this. Remember, soon we will rule the world again. Your loving Brother, R. 12. Sis, We should stop sending these letters for a while. With all this Eye ruckus, the guards are on their toes and that makes me paranoid. Let's hope it settles fast. I will write again very soon. Miss you, R. 13. Sister, I'm so glad I can write to you again. The wizard, Marthonis, spent some time in Mirith and in the end the Eye was defeated. Oh how hard it was not to slice his head off! But I followed Tirana's advice and stayed hidden. He's gone now, and things are quieting down. I haven't heard from the Black Hand either. I wonder what became of them. With all these recent events we decided we can't allow ourselves to loose more time. Tirana's former plan to lure Beleth into our lair and capture him will be put in action soon. I will write you more about this very soon. Please tell me everything is fine on your side! Love, R. 14. Dear Brother, I am fine. I have been hiding in Andris all this time, watching as the last remains of Lancaster's deeds were slowly washed away. It is strange, it feels like our time is over and people already forget about us. The name of the Twins doesn't scare anyone anymore. I can't help but remembering the times where our mere sight was enough to make so called « heroes » cower in fear. I miss you. When can we meet again? Your loving sister, V. 15. Sis, The time has come. We left Mirith and came back to our original hideout. Tirana located Beleth, and he is still actively looking for us. He is currently recovering from his travels with a few Guardians. Once he leaves, I will come to him, cloaked, and tell him about a « Tome of the Lost ». According to Tirana, this book was written by the God of Death himself, and unfolds a lot of lies about Elara, the real Black Plague, and our role in all of this. Her plan is to have Beleth looking for the Tome, and especially for a spell contained in it. Once he learns about it, she knows exactly what he is going to do, and where to find him. She didn't want to tell more about it. She says it will all come clear in time. I'm wondering how much trust she is putting in us. Actually, I'm beginning to think she plans on doublecrossing us at some point. I think we should meet soon. I'll let you know when to come back. Until then, be very careful, once Beleth learns about the Tome we will all be in danger. Miss you, R. 16. Brother, I heard the temple of Brigobaen was pillaged? Rumours speak of Beleth? Has he gone mad? Please answer fast, V. 17. Sis, Beleth did not pillage the temple. Tirana is keeping an eye on him. Apparently he wasn't able to obtain the tome and gave up on it. But a few problems are arising. From what I hear, Beleth came back to Mirith for a while, before leaving again. It seems that we are not the only one looking after him. Whoever pillaged Brigobaen didn't manage to steal the Tome and it is kept safely in Mirith. Cecil is wounded, and words about the book reached the public's ears. All of this is making a bit too much noise and I'm beginning to think Tirana royally screwed up. I'll keep you in touch. Please keep your ears open but don't take any risk. I don't want anything to happen to you. I love you. R. 18. Brother, This is all going out of hand. People in Andris are talking about a war, because Mirith is keeping Cecil against his will. People are heating up, and the Dragon menace is growing stronger. I don't want to stay there any longer. Let's face it, Tirana is loosing control on the events.We need to strike on our own. I want to come back with you. I never want to leave you again. Please tell me I can come back. Your loving Sister, V. 19. Sister, You should come back to the hideout as soon as you can. Cecil survived and is talking about reading the Tome. People are agitated, this is not looking too good. Tirana keeps telling me to calm down but I don't like the way things are going. Please come back, I miss you. R. 20. My very dear Brother, It feels weird to write to you again. Despite our vows, we are separated again. I know this is only a matter of days, but I couldn't help writing you. Beleth, our little dog, is doing quite well. Our stock of Etherite is thinning and our magic items supply is growing by the hour. The dissident army we rose is keeping a good eye on him, along with the renewed Alliance. The scepter was brought back to me, and I will keep it. Once it is enchanted, nothing will be able to stop us. We are very close to being as powerful as ever. Tirana isn't of any use to us now. We should kill her. It is time to rule the world again. Missing you, V. 21. Sister, I think we should hurry now. The events went totally out of hand, despite what Tirana says. She has another plan now. She is sure that now that Cecil read the Tome, he will try to cast the spell, and awake the Curio's memories. She says he will need Beleth for that, and that he will do his best to find him. There is a mercenary wizard, called Zem Stormbrow apparently, who was hired by Mirith to find her and Beleth. She plans on letting him discover where Beleth is taken prisoner, so that they can free him. Then him and Cecil will prepare themselves to cast the spell. They will need the help of the Centaurs. This is where her plan comes into place. She wants them to open the Centaurs' cave again. She wants us to be ready for that moment, so that we can enter and slaughter them, take their magic, and become the most powerful beings in all Oberin. When they open the cave, she will have the ultimate power. I think this is going too far. I don't like her plan. I am keeping quiet for now, but we shouldn't let this happen. I know we are still too weak to face Mirith, but we shouldn't let them free Beleth. I don't think we can prevent that wizard from discovering about Beleth, so we will have to kill the Mirithians once they reach the Troll cave. Then we will kill Tirana. As long as we keep Beleth under our control, we cannot fail. We will meet again very soon. Then we will be done with these damn letters forever. I promise. In a few moons we will read them again with a smile on our face. Our power is growing sister, I can feel it. Nothing can stop us now. I love you. Rasha. Category:Historical Item Category:Books and Texts